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Introduction

Pontoon is the British or domestic version of Twenty-One which was originally Vingt-Un (French for twenty-one), a French gambling game popular at the court of Louis XV and later, much favoured by Napoleon, especially at St. The best possible hand is a two-card 21, or pontoon: an ace plus a royal card or 10. Next is a five-card trick: five cards of any total value (under or equal to 21, obviously). The Australian Pontoon game will be covered separately and we’ll refer to it as Spanish 21 which is what this game is referred to as when it’s offered online. We are currently aware of Pontoon being offered by the following online casino softwares – Playtech, Microgaming, RealTime Gaming, Net Entertainment, OpenBet and GamesOS. The bonus spins are subject to Pontoon Gambling wagering requirements of 30 x bonus amount. The maximum bet allowed when using bonus money is of €5 per spin or €0.50 per bet line, until the wagering requirements Pontoon Gambling have been fully fulfilled. This bonus offer is subject to country restrictions. Pontoon has a large number of fixed rules and conventions, but its prominence all over Australia has lead to a certain level of minor differences introduced by each state’s casinos, as detailed below: Federal Pontoon. Played in Tasmania in the Country Club Casino and Wrest Point Casino, the name is derived from the casino owners, the Federal.

Pontoon is sometimes said to be an early version of blackjack. Today Pontoon is offered by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Microgaming, Betsoft, Galewind Software, Nucleus and Cryptologic Internet casinos. In Pontoon, any five-card hand or a pontoon (same thing as a blackjack) pay 2 to 1, including after splitting. However there is no dealer up card and the dealer wins on ties. There are several other rule changes from blackjack so read carefully before playing.

Australian Pontoon, which is what Americans call Spanish 21, is a completely separate game, and is addressed on my page on Australian Pontoon.

Rules

Following are the usual rules.

1. The game is played with eight 52-card decks, or two decks at Bovada.
2. All cards have the same value as in blackjack.
3. The ranking value of hands in pontoon is as follows:
   1. A pontoon, which is defined as an ace and any 10-point card, including after splitting
   2. A five-card trick, which is defined as any 5-card hand that has not busted. All five-card tricks are of the same value, the point total does not matter.
   3. A non-busted hand of 21 points of less with 4 or less cards. Hands will be ranked within this group according to the total number of points.
   4. A busted hand of 22 points or more.
4. The dealer will deal each player two cards face up and two cards face down to the dealer.
5. The dealer will peek at his cards for a pontoon. If the dealer has a pontoon he will immediately turn it over and collect all wagers and cards.
6. The player may stand on any total greater or equal to 15, or on any 5-card hand.
7. The player may hit at any point, including after doubling.
8. The player may double on 2 to 4 cards, but only once per hand. The option includes after splitting, and once for each split hand.
9. The player may split two cards of equal rank. The player may resplit once, up to a total of three hands, including aces. When the player splits the first card dealt to each hand shall be automatic.
10. Player may draw and double after splitting aces.
11. The 2-card 21 after splitting aces counts as a pontoon.
12. If the player busts he immediately loses and forfeits his cards and total wager.
13. After all players have played out their hands the dealer shall expose his two cards. Then the dealer shall continue to draw cards until he has a total of 17 points or more, except the dealer shall hit a soft 17. The dealer will also stop with any five-card hand.
14. The dealer shall compare his hand to each player hand. A winning player pontoon or five-card hand shall pay 2 to 1. All other player wins shall pay 1 to 1 (even money).
15. Ties lose.

Strategy

The following tables show the basic strategy for Pontoon under RTG, Playtech, Galewind, Betsoft and Cryptologic rules. Betsoft does not state the number of decks used, but they use six in all their standard blackjack games.

To use the strategy look up the player's hand along the left and across the number of cards along the top. The top of the strategy is for hard totals and the bottom for soft hands. The player should always split eights. The player should split aces under the liberal ace splitting rules above, but not under the Microgaming rules, or hypothetically if an ace and 10 after splitting aces was not a pontoon.

The first chart is appropriate for Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic rules.

The next table shows the strategy under Microgaming rules.

The house edge is 0.38% under the default rules listed above. These rules are followed by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic.

At Microgaming casinos the rules are the same except split aces get one card each and the dealer stands on soft 17, in which case the house edge is 0.39%.

Rule Variations

Following are some alternative rules and the effect on the house edge.

• Aces and 10 after splitting aces is 21 points (not a pontoon): House edge increased by 0.49%.
• No draw to split aces (split aces get one card each): House edge increased by 0.49%.
• Dealer stands on soft 17: House edge lowered by 0.47%.
• Two decks (as opposed to eight): House edge increased by 0.35%. That is not a mistake. In Pontoon the more the decks the lower the house edge. I believe this is because it is easier to make 5-card tricks with more decks.

It is not a coincidence that both restrictions on split aces increase the house edge by the same amount, because if either rule is in effect the player should hit a soft 12.

Playtech

Click on image for larger version

I would like to thank Microgaming and Yechezkel Zilber for their contributions to this analysis.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

There are two completely different blackjack variants that carry the name Pontoon. The first one originated in UK and has quite similar rules to the regular blackjack. The second comes from Australia and has many unique rules and features (played without 10s, special payouts on various combinations on 21 and more).

Both versions can be played online: the British version kept the name Pontoon, while the Australian game called Spanish 21 or Match Play 21. Here we will focus on British Pontoon (If you were looking for the Aussie one, please check our Spanish 21 section).

Pontoon vs. Blackjack

Pontoon is thought to be the first form of Blackjack played. In today’s world, it is mainly played in Australian casinos and online. Obviously, it is a more popular game online since more people have access to it.

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The game is played much the same as traditional Blackjack and the main target remains the same: to beat the dealer. However, there are some distinct rules that make it quite different.

Due to its unique set of rules and low house edge, this is one of the most popular variations of blackjack online and offline. It can be found at online casinos using RTG, MicroGaming, Cryptologic, Playtech and other major software companies. In terms of payouts, NetEnt offers the best winning odds with house edge of just 0.35%. US casino players can play real money Pontoon only in RTG casinos.

Free Pontoon Games

Reviews

Pontoon Rules

The goal remains the same, to beat the dealer, but the value of hands and the rules are a bit different.

• Pontoon is usually played with 6-8 regular decks of 52 cards.
• The best hand is Pontoon (blackjack), which means an Ace and 10 value card and it pays 2:1.
• Next inline, is a 5 card hand – referred as 5 Card Trick. Here the total value of your hand doesn’t matter as long as you didn’t bust (meaning 5 card hand of 15 beats dealers 20). Pays 2:1
• Last, all 2-4 card hands are ranked according to their regular value and pay 1:1.
• One big advantage of Pontoon vs Blackjack is that the player can twist (hit) after doubling.
• You can also double at any time, even when you already have 4 cards.
• To compensate for that, you cannot stand until you reached 15 or higher.
• Dealer wins all ties.

Game Comparison

Most of the games you can find online follow the common Pontoon rules, however there are some minor exceptions

• RTG (USA): RTG do not reveal the number of decks.
• Microgaming (British): Dealers stands on all 17s. Player cannot hit split Aces.
• BetSoft: Split only once, Sweet 16 side bet.
• NetEnt: Played with 6 decks. You can double only once per round.
• Games OS: Standard rules.

Odds

All Pontoon games online offer an expected return of 99.62%, except the NetEnt version, which stands above the rest with 99.65%. Notice that if you choose to use the Sweet 16 side bet that BetSoft offers, the odds there are lower than in the main game, 97.48%.

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Actions

Player

The options you have are similar to regular blackjack, but they carry a different name: twist (hit), stick (stand) and buy (double).

Stand: One clear distinction between Pontoon and regular blackjack is that you can stand only if the total value of your cards is 15 or more (or if you have 5 cards).

Double: You can double at any point as long as you have 4 cards or less. You may only double once

Pontoon Gambling

Splitting: Any two cards of the same value may be split. You can split up to 2 times making for 3 total hands. A bet of equal amount to the original must be placed whenever a split is performed.

Aces may be split and doubling after splitting is Aces Is allowed.

Dealer

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You will immediately notice some differences right from the start. In most Blackjack games, the dealers 2 cards are 1 up and one down. Here, both dealers’ cards are dealt face down. All players’ cards are dealt face up.

The dealer will peek at his cards to see if they have 21, or Pontoon. If the has, the hand is over and the dealer wins all bets. If not, the hand continues.

Pontoon Gambling Rules

That’s the basics…Now you should now be proficient enough to start playing.